Tag Archives: Morecambe

Shrimps’ bag second away win by Danny Milligan

Morecambe secured their first win of 2009 at Chesterfield’s Recreation Ground on Saturday.

Second half goals from Rene Howe and Craig Stanley were enough to give the Shrimps’ three points.

Michael Twiss volleyed over in the third minute for the Shrimps’ but it was a poor first half with both teams unable to create any substantial chances.

The second half started brightly and a Shrimps’ break on 54 minutes saw Howe open the scoring with a diving header at the back post, courtesy of a Fraser McLachlan cross.

But Chesterfield responded immediately with Martin Gritton picking up a Jack Lester pass and striking the ball past Barry Roche in the Morecambe goal.

Morecambe re-gained their advantage after 67 minutes, a Neil Wainwright cross from the left found Stanley on his own in the box, the midfielder side-footing the ball past Spireites’ keeper Tommy Lee.

Matty Blinkhorn and Twiss also had good chances as Chesterfield pressed, but both blasted over the bar.

Ex-Chesterfield and current Morecambe keeper Barry Roche spoke to me after the game.

He said: “It was very strange playing back at my old ground today. I have looked forward to this game all season.

“Against Gillingham last week we were really poor but we have worked hard all this week and it has paid off.

“The goals we scored today reflected the work we have done in training, getting the ball wide and into the box.

“We don’t score enough goals and we can’t keep relying on Rene (Howe) but today will give us a big boost”.

*Chesterfield’s loss has also raised questions over manager Lee Richardson’s future at the club. What are your views? Should he walk or are managers in lower leagues taking the blame for players lack of effort or commitment?

Morecambe recorded their biggest win of the season in glorious conditions at Christie Park, writes Danny Milligan.

But Sammy McIlory’s side got off to a horrendous start when after just three minutes, Izak Reid picked up the ball just inside the box and rolled it under Barry Roche.

And the first ten minutes were dominated by Macclesfield, with Reid very nearly making it two when Roche punched the ball straight to him in the area.

Morecambe re-grouped and came back into the game on 17 minutes courtesy of Henry McStay’s volley at the back post. It followed a foul on Rene Howe, the free kick taken by Craig Stanley and McStay sneaking in to draw the home side level.

And only seven minutes later a corner from Stanley was flicked on by Howe at the near post to fall nicely for Danny Carlton to head his side into the lead.

Macclesfield did create a couple of chances late in the first half, the best of which was a cross by Ahmed Deen to Martin Gritton who beat his man but shot wide.

The home side dominated much of the second half and Morecambe’s third came from Stuart Drummond who headed past Macclesfield keeper Jon Brain, the cross coming from the left by Neil Wainwright.

Michael Twiss returned for Morecambe with 15 minutes remaining, having recovered from an ankle injury that has meant he has only featured three times this season.

And the game was well and truly wrapped up 11 minutes from time, Rene Howe picked up the ball just inside the box and curled it past Brain.

Here are the results from Boxing Day, with a full-set of fixtures to follow on Sunday:

In a late flurry of action at Griffin Park, Brentford overcame Bradford. Marcus Bean put Brentford ahead in the 88th minute, before Michael Boulding equalised a minute later. But Nathan Elder snatched victory in stoppage time, which allows the Bees to leapfrog their opponents in the table.

Bury moved up to second with an impressive 3-0 victory over Port Vale. Ben Futcher made it 1-0, before two goals from Glynn Hurst set-up victory. They move above Shrewsbury, who surprisingly lost to Grimsby Town. The Mariners earned their first home victory since March thanks to an Adam Proudlock volley.

Elsewhere, Wycombe were held 0-0 at home to Luton, and Darlington fell to a 1-0 defeat at Christie Park against Morecambe.

On Friday night Chesterfield suffered another dissapointing loss, this time at home to Macclesfield. Martin Gritton struck twice for the visitors, whilst Jamie Ward battled alone for the Spireites, grabbing two goals himself. Lee Richardson must surely be close to the sack now. Lincoln also played on Friday night, comfortably beating Accrington 5-1 at Sincil Bank.

MORECAMBE held on at Chester for their first away win of the season, writes Danny Milligan.

Howe set up the first, and scored the second.

Goals from Craig Stanley and Rene Howe were enough for victory at the Deva Stadium.

New manager Mark Wright was hoping for a good start to his third stint at the club, but it did not go according to plan. Stanley broke through the home side’s gaping defence after a smart dummy from Howe, slotting the ball past keeper John Danby to break the deadlock.

Striker Danny Carlton, who is back with the Shrimps for a month loan, made an impact in the second half when he was fouled in the box by Laurence Wilson, Howe scoring from the spot.

But the Shrimps were made to work for the win, when Eddie Johnson pulled one back for the home team.

Morecambe have won just 1 game in 12, and after an impressive season last year, their start is a dissapointment to most fans. They are also out of the Carling Cup, and have just been knocked out of the JPT too.

McIlroy celebrates winning promotion at Wembley

No-one is doubting the job that McIlroy has done at Christie Park. He took over from Jim Harvery, and led the club to the play-offs two years in a row, gaining promotion to the football league at the second attempt.

However with the Shrimps having fixtures against a lot of the clubs around them coming up, the chairman might have been better advised to hold on, and see how the side went. A few losses and Morecambe could see themselves in trouble.

McIlroy has done a fine job in taking Morecambe this far, but maybe a fresh face and some new ideas could take them even further.

With a full set of mid-week games, League 2 threw up some interesting results.

Chesterfield went to third-placed Exeter and came away with a stunning 6-1 victory. Chesterfield went 1-0 up thanks to Jamie Winter thunderbolt from 25 yards out. Just before half-time they grabbed a second, Alan Goodall cutting inside and finishing well. Exeter pulled one back early in the second half, but a quick brace from veteran striker Jack Lester, plus goals from Jamie Ward and substitute Darren Currie saw the Spireites cruise to victory.

Elsewhere in the division, Chester City surprisingly overcame a lacklustre Brentford at the Deva. Ryan Lowe netted twice in a 3-0 victory for the underdogs. A late winner from Barry Conlon saw Bradford sneak a win over early-season pace setters Bury. Darlington beat Rotherham United 1-0 at the Don Valley stadium, while Shrewsbury went three games without a win, drawing 2-2 at home to Barnet.

League leaders Wycombe’s game at home to Macclesfield was abandoned after 23 minutes due to the bad weather, while Luton’s home fixture against Bournemouth suffered the same fate.